On the Lakeside
by Penfold66
Summary: What happened after Merlin pulled Arthur from the lake? Series One, Episode Seven "The Gates of Avalon" - missing scene.


Merlin's lungs were burning. All his muscles screamed in protest. He felt that at any second his heart might come up through his throat so wildly was it beating. But he could not - must not - stop running toward the lake where he knew with certainty that he would find Arthur. As he ran he prayed to all the gods that he'd find the Prince still alive. He had tried to stop Olfric and Sofia (the She that wanted to sacrifice Arthur's soul in exchange for eternal life) from taking Arthur away with them, but their magic had proved too powerful for him and had thrown him into a wall, knocking him unconscious. He had no idea how long he had been out for when Gaius found him and despite barely being able to focus his eyes and with his head spinning so alarmingly that he felt like he wanted to vomit, he knew that he had no choice but to run and find Arthur. He was terrified that he may already be too late but utter desperation and panic spurred him on.

A few times as he sprinted through the forest he grew confused about his direction. He had once before followed Olfric to this lake - Avalon it was called - and knew it's location in relation to Camelot but in his panic he lost the the path and almost cried in confusion at the delay he'd caused himself. At one point he was running so fast that he tripped over a root and fell heavily, hurting his wrists and twisting an ankle but he could not let these injuries slow him for even a second.

Just as he felt his body could go on no more and despair was beginning to envelope him he heard a man's voice chanting loudly in a tongue he didn't recognise. He raced toward it and at last - at last! - caught a glimpse of blue amongst the trees. It was the stone in Olfric's staff, which he held aloft as he chanted. With a desperate spurt of energy Merlin raced toward Olfric and noticed that Sofia was up to her waist in the lake with one arm held aloft. There was no sign of Arthur. Had they sacrificed him already? Was Merlin too late? He was certain that he must be and in a split second his despair turned into an anger that until this point in his life he never knew he was capable of. In a moment of clarity he noticed Sofia's staff laying on the ground next to her father and with a hurried spell summoned it to himself. Without even thinking about it, when it was in his grasp Merlin incanted the spell that would blast these delivish She from existance.

As they exploded into a thousand pieces and drifted away on the wind Merlin's anger evaporated and his desperation to find his Prince returned. His brain was telling him that it was hopeless, that Arthur was dead at the bottom of the lake - there wasn't a ripple or a bubble to prove otherwise, but his heart could not accept the loss and spurred him on into the freezing waters. He waded out, barely registering the shock of the cold, until he was in the spot where he thought he'd seen Sofia standing before she began wading back toward shore. The water was brown and murky and there was no sign of life below the surface.

"It can't end like this" thought Merlin as he desperately scanned the water, "I can't lose him when we've not even started!". In his panic he screamed out Arthur's name. He drew a big breath into his still burning lungs and dived down into the inky blackness of the lake's depths. The murky water clouded his vision and the cold clouded his brain but he would not give up the search. He desperately scrabbled about on the bed of the lake until his lungs were fit to burst and he had to surface for air. The fourth time he surfaced he was close to screaming out in frustration and loss but instead dived down one last time. As he thrashed about in the deep dark once again his hand caught the edge of something metallic. It was Arthur's hauberk and Merlin felt his way downwards, wrapped his arms around the Prince's waist and hauled him up towards the surface with all his might.

By some miracle Merlin was just within his depth so could stand on the lake bed. It was a good thing too, because despite the bouyancy of the water, Arthur was a dead weight, weighed down as he was with chainmail and armour plating. It took all of the strength that Merlin could muster simply to keep Arthur's head clear of the water. For what felt like an age he simply hung on to the immobile Prince, hugging him close to his chest as he tried to catch his own breath and muster enough energy to get Arthur out of the water.

It was an effort of pure will and desperation to drag Arthur out onto the lakeside and when he finally pulled the Prince clear Merlin's legs gave way and he collapsed trembling across Arthur's torso. The Prince was a deathly grey colour with darkened rings around his eyes and slightly parted lips that were an unhealthy shade of blue. He looked like a corpse. Merlin wildly called his name and slapped his cheeks. No response. No breath. Through so many layers of clothing and chainmail it was impossible to feel a heartbeat. Tears blurred the manservant's eyes as he cast about in his mind to think of a spell that might help. Nothing came to mind and time was passing and Arthur wasn't breathing. Merlin was frantic and grabbed the Prince's shoulders and shook him with all his might to try to ellicit a response. Arthur's head lolled to the side and a stream of water dribbled from his parted lips. This gave Merlin an idea and he dropped the Prince's shoulders and sat astride his hips and pushed down on Arthur's chest with all his weight. His reasoning was that if he could somehow empty the water from the lungs, he might - somehow - get some breath back into them and maybe, just maybe, his Prince wouldn't be dead after all. It seemed to be working. An unbelieveable amount of muddy fluid gushed out of Arthur's mouth and dribbled out of his nose as Merlin pumped. Once he was satisfied that no more would come out Merlin stopped and waited to see if Arthur would begin breathing. Nothing. He climbed off and rolled the Prince onto his side just in case a pool of water remained in his throat. Still nothing. Merlin let out a short panicked whine and palmed the tears away from his eyes and puffed out a few breaths to try to stem the panic rising within him. In a flash he had the inspiration to breathe into the Princes lungs. It was a long shot but he was desperate! He tentatively leaned down and with his own lips trembling, covered Arthur's cold blue ones and puffed a large breath.

There was a moment of hope as Arthur's breath brushed his cheek...until he realised that it was simply his own breath finding it's way out through the Prince's nose. He pinched the nostrils closed and with lips still quivering covered Arthur's mouth with his own and breathed. The chest rose and fell. Merlin repeated his action a few more times when suddenly a cough pushed air back into his own mouth. He pulled away as Arthur coughed wetly and heaved in a breath all on his own! He coughed a few more times, bringing up yet more of the lake water from his lungs and - thanks be to the gods! - his skin lost it's deathly hue as he finally began to breathe normally. As his eyes flickered open and he blinked around him and his gaze fell blearily onto his manservant who was kneeling at his side. Merlin could not restrain himself and in his relief grabbed the Prince's face and kissed him full on the lips. Merlin's lips were still trembling and an unstoppable stream of tears ran from his eyes and splashed onto Arthur's cheek. Arthur weakly reached up and cradled Merlin's face in his hands, pulling him back from the kiss and looking questioningly into his eyes.

"S-sorry" hiccuped Merlin between sobs that were still racking his entire body, "s-sorry I k-kissed you, but I th-thought that I'd lost you and you are my Prince and I d-don't know w-what I would do without you. Wh-when I pulled you out of the water I th-thought you were dead" On the last word, his voice trailed away completely and he began sobbing uncontrollably again. It was more than Arthur could stand, so he pulled his foolish, loyal, brave manservant into a hug, cradling his head onto his shoulder and shushing into his ear as he gently stroked the boy's hair.

They lay thus until Merlin's sobs and trembling finally subsided and Arthur began to feel some of his own strength returning. Slowly Merlin sat up, swiped at his puffy tearstained eyes with the palms of his hands and smiled sheepishly down at the Prince. "Sorry 'bout that" he said in his usual cheery voice, "you scared me!"

"S'alright Merlin" said Arthur, quirking an eyebrow up at him, "I always knew you were a girl"

Merlin huffed out a laugh and looked away across the lake. When he looked back at Arthur his expression was more serious. "We need to get dry" he said, "it's late and we'll never make it back to Camelot tonight without horses. Can you sit up? I'll go get wood for a fire and then we'll get you out of that armour"

Arthur nodded and with a good deal of effort managed to haul himself into a sitting position. Merlin squelched off back into the forest and crunched around and soon returned with an armful of wood and kindling. With his back to Arthur he muttered a spell and got the fire alight. Arthur watched his manservant at work and marvelled at how swiftly he always managed to get a good fire blazing just through knocking two pieces of flint together.

Once he was happy with the fire, Merlin turned back to Arthur and said, "Come on then, let's get this armour off you before you start going rusty". Arthur aquiesed and moved about to let Merlin undo the buckles of his hauberk and vanbraces and remove them. As he pulled off the chainmail Merlin inspected it and tutted and laid it carefully across a large rock close to the fire, stroking it as he did so . "I'll be oiling that for a week to stop it rusting up" he grumbled. He turned his attention back to Arthur and said, "C'mon then, let's be getting you out of those wet things". Arthur shifted about and let Merlin strip off his boots, tunic, undershirt and breeches but was a bit reluctant to take off his underpants. Merlin looked down at him with a puzzled expression, "Arthur, I've bathed you dozens of times, there's nothing I haven't seen under there!" he cajoled. Arthur huffed and eventually passed his pants to Merlin who, with a smug grin, laid them beside the fire with the rest of his clothes.

"You too" commanded Arthur, "you're soaked through, get your own clothes off and dried"

"Eh?" said Merlin, suddenly looking a bit panicked, eyes darting to the sides.

"Come on Merlin" cajoled the Prince, "I don't want you catching an ague now, do I?"

"Oh, I'll be fine" blustered Merlin, "I'll sit by the fire and dry off...it wasn't me that nearly drowned!"

"No, Merlin" insisted Arthur, "You got as wet as I did, and you're still a bit trembly so you need to dry those clothes. Properly. Come on, strip...or are you really the girl that I'm always accusing you of being"

"No" said Merlin indignantly. "Fine" he huffed and began pulling off his clothes with his back to Arthur and laid them over some branches close to the fire.

Whilst he had his back turned Arthur studied the naked form of his manservant. The boy was an almost glowing white colour - a little like alabaster, Arthur mused - and despite his thin bony frame was surprisingly muscular. He reminded Arthur of a greyhound, all long limbed, muscly and hollow bellied as he was. Once naked he settled beside the fire and wrapped his arms around his knees. He fixed his eyes on Arthur's who was still staring at him and with a quick incline of his head said "Come over here and get warm next to the fire"

"Merlin" said Arthur in an indignant tone, "I think you sometimes forget that I am your Master and it's ME that gives the orders!"

"Fine" replied Merlin, staring at him insolently, "you sit there, like the dollophead that you are, and freeze to death and die after I used all that energy saving you from drowning. I don't know why I bother!" He turned toward the fire and started poking at it angrily with a branch, grumbling under his breath.

Arthur rolled his eyes and stood, slowly walking towards the fire, "You bother, Merlin", he said in a concilliatory voice as he sat down beside his manservant, nudgeing him with his shoulder "because I'm your Prince and you don't know what you would do without me."

Merlin stilled and turned wide and somewhat panicked eyes onto Arthur as the Prince repeated his words back to him in a slightly mocking tone. He began to lean away but Arthur stilled him with a hand on his bare shoulder. "It's okay Merlin" he said gently, "it's okay". He looked out over the lake and then back at Merlin and continued, "truth is, I can't really imagine my life without you either even if you are the worst manservant ever who forgets his place in the world and orders his master around!"

Merlin huffed out a laugh and smiled at the Prince as a small tremble passed through his body.

Arthur frowned as he felt the tremble through his hand still resting on Merlin's shoulder, "Are you still cold?" he said as he put his arm across Merlins other shoulder and began rubbing warmth back into his arms.

"No" whispered Merlin as he lay his head onto Arthur's shoulder and looked into his eyes, "Happy".

Arthur saw the look of complete adoration in Merlin's eyes and without hesitation leaned in and captured his lips in a gentle kiss, Merlin stilled for a heartbeat then trembled again and kissed back, sitting up and capturing Arthur's face between his hands. Arthur's hand threaded into the hair at the nape of Merlin's neck and he deepened the kiss, letting his tongue lick across his manservant's lips. Merlin groaned deeply, opening his mouth as he did so and giving entry to Arthur's tongue and moving his hands down to the Prince's chest. Arthur snaked his other hand down to the small of Merlin's back and over the swell of his arse kissing yet harder. In his turn Merlin moved his hands down to Arthur's hips and started to pull him closer. Suddenly the Prince froze and pulled back from the kiss. Merlin looked up at him with a heavily lidded, questioning expression.

"Wait" croaked Arthur, his voice huskier than he intended, "Sofia...I...we...how am I even here? I don't remember how we got here!"

Merlin's eyes opened wide and he pulled himself up and reluctantly pulled himself from the Prince's embrace. "Sofia and her father were sorcerers, Sire" he said in a quiet voice, "they meant to cause you harm, they bewitched you to enter the lake"

"Oh?" asked Arthur, his brow furrowed in confusion, "But I remember nothing...and where did they go?"

Merlin looked shiftily from side to side but said nothing.

"Did they think me dead and simply leave me in the lake?" said Arthur indignantly.

"Yes!" exclaimed Merlin suddenly, "Yes! That's exactly what happened! When I got here I must have disturbed them and they just ran away...they must have thought I came with some of the Knights or something"

"Oh" said Arthur and leaned back in towards Merlin and moved to capture his lips in a kiss again. He overbalanced and fell heavily onto his elbow. "Oh!" he said, this time more in surprise as he tried to sit up again. Suddenly his eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he fell heavily into Merlin's lap, unconcious.

Merlin blinked down at him uncomprehendingly and once he realised that Arthur had passed out began slapping his face gently and calling his name. There was no response and Merlin had a few horrible moments of panic when he thought that despitre his efforts his Master was going to die after all. He gently moved Arthur off his lap and went to breathe into him again, but realised that at least the Prince was breathing, if unresponsive. He tried several more times to wake Arthur but to no avail. Still worried about the cold, he eventually turned Arthur so that he was facing the fire wrapped himself against Arthur's back. The Prince's breathing was steady, if a little shallow. After an hour or so despite his worry for his master and the cold wind blowing at his back off of the lake Merlin eventually gave in to sleep as the sun set behind him, one arm flung protectively over the Prince's waist.

It was thus that Gaius found them just as the last rays of sunlight dissapeared over the horizon. He had followed their trail and came upon the sleeping boys just at the edge of the lake and the forest. He had dismounted his horse and tethered it and the spare horse he was leading to a tree and had walked over to the fire before Merlin woke up. He blinked up to see his guardian smiling down on him as he lay there - naked and embracing Arthur - with an eyebrow quirked questioningly.

"Gaius!" he exclaimed, jumping up, blushing and pulling still damp trousers over his white hips as he babbled, "I didn't know what to do! He wasn't breathing, I pulled him out of the lake, I blew air into him, he woke up, we got dry, we were talking, we were..." he paused, "and then he just flaked out again! I didn't know what to do so I just kept him warm! Will he die? Please tell me he won't die..."

"Shhh Merlin" said Gaius in calming tones as he bent down and checked over the comatose Prince. "He's fine. Sometimes this happens after drowning. You did well. He's alive. Help me wrap him in a blanket and we'll get him back to Camelot for proper treatment"

With not a little effort they managed to sling Arthur over the second horse. Merlin sat awkwardly behind Arthur and they slowly made their way back to the Castle, Merlin telling Gaius (nearly) all that had happened at the lakeside as they went.

...

Merlin had helped Gaius wash and dress the comatose Prince in his sleeping clothes and had laid him on his bed. Despite his mentor's insistance Merlin had refused to leave Arthur's bedside and had slept on a chair pulled up tight against the bed. Gaius joined him in his vigil the following morning. It was late into the afternoon when Arthur finally began to come to. As he awoke he let out a long groan.

"Arthur?" Merlin asked quietly and gently.

"What happened?, where am I?" mumbled the woozy Prince, trying to make sense of the jumbled images in his brain. He had no memory of going to bed but that was where he seemed to be.

"Do you remember anything?" came Merlin's soft, questioning voice again from somewhere nearby.

Arthur tried again to order his thoughts and memories from the last few days. He remembered a pretty girl with long blonde hair, soft features and hypnotic eyes, he remembered kissing her and feeling utterly entranced by her. He remembered a lake, he remembered kissing a brunette with short hair with a face that was all angles and thighs like a greyhound and lips just like Merlin's... He suddenly sat up in a panic and felt like his brain would explode. "Oh my head" he groaned as he dropped down onto an elbow and tried to articulate his thoughts, "There was a girl, Sofia, she...I...asked my father something..." he sat bolt upright as his memory of leaving the castle with Sofia came back clearly and exclaimed, "What was I thinking!?"

"Well ,we did wonder" said Merlin again, "Especially when you eloped with her last night"

"Merlin had to bring you back to Camelot" chipped in Gaius.

Arthur cast about in his memory. "I don't recall any of this" he exclaimed, utterly bamboozled.

"Must've been some blow" said Gaius to Merlin.

"What blow" asked Arthur, dumbfounded.

"Well when I caught up with you I couldn't pursuede you to return, you were beyond reason, so I had to make you" said Merlin, looking him straight in the eyes.

"You managed to knock me out?" spluttered Arthur unbelievingly.

"Yep, with a lump of wood" said Merlin with what Arthur imagined was something of a smug smile.

"He only did it to bring you back safely" chipped in Gaius, just for good measure.

Arthur was indignant In his most authoritive voice and with a pointed finger for added gravitas he commanded, "No one can know about this...any of it , is that understood?" the last few words he directed at Merlin, still a little bit confused about the half-remembered kiss with a short haired brunette... When Merlin and Gaius nodded their agreement, he collapsed back onto his pillow and tried yet again to order his scrambled thoughts.

Satisfied that his Master was back to his normal prattish self, Merlin stood and headed back to his own chambers to get some proper rest. It had been an extremely eventful couple of days and he was suddenly exhausted. He smiled as he went, remembering with perfect clarity the feel of Arthur's lips on his own and the hands tugging at the hair on the nape of his neck and stroking the small of his back...


End file.
